Customized PDMS (silicone) solution for scalable Microfluidic device production

Point-of-care-testing (POCT) is about to change our understanding of diagnostics as we know it today. The concept of running a diagnostic test right at the patient site at any time to generate robust results within minutes will revolutionize our healthcare system. Microfluidics is the key enabling technology, which drives this trend. Miniaturizing entire laboratories on a millimeter sized chip is challenging:

• industrialization: from research facilities to production lines 
• complex high volume fabrication is involving many steps: alignment and bonding of different layers, proper sealing, incorporation of valves, membranes, chemicals...
• cost pressure due to reimbursement limits

Various materials are readily available for the fabrication of microfluidic chips including traditional carbon-based thermoplastic materials like PS (polystyrene) or PC (polycarbonate). These materials are mainly used today due to their perceived manufacturability at scale, however they have limits:

Polystyrene:

• expensive equipment required to process
• difficult thermal bonding process 
• geometric design at high aspect ratio channels can collapse 

Polycarbonate:

• poor resistance to many solvents
• thermal bonding required which can alter geometries

Silicone, commonly referred to in academic publications as PDMS, is another material solution used for microfluidic chips, however is often misunderstood as a material that is not suitable for high volume manufacturing.

We develop advanced PDMS (silicone) material solutions suitable for the high volume fabrication of microfluidic devices.  

Silicones are extremely versatile and can be customized to address a number of challenges compatible with specific requirements:

• Versatile material technologies such as elastomers, fluids, and emulsions
• Formulated to be hydrophobic or hydrophilic
• Well-tailored surface chemistry to avoid absorption of small molecules
• High transparency for optimal spectroscopic read out
• Self-sealing properties to simplify alignment of different layers and to avoid liquid leakage
• Specialized silicone emulsions for droplet-based microfluidics to avoid collapse or fusion of droplets
• Silicones are widely used in life science applications due to their biocompatibility

These customized silicones can be produced in high volumes:

• Same materials being used from prototyping through scale up to mass manufacturing: no need for expensive material re-qualification after prototyping
• Can be processed in many ways: liquid injection molding, processing by hand...
• Ability to replicate even sub-micrometer sized features